Gosh. It's too bad Blake did nothing right in this game. Coach Nick is right! I'm just glad he chose THIS game to determine who the better player is and, like, none of the other games in which these guys faced each other.

I will say nothing more about this dude.

toohipcliptoslip

12/23/2013 - 10:26 PM PST

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The one thing that stands out is (are) Love's fundamentals.

ClipperPostman

12/23/2013 - 10:29 PM PST

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The one thing that stands out to me are their losses. lol.

Dunkathon

12/23/2013 - 10:29 PM PST

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Love definitely has better post moves than Blake, and I would take Love over Blake if I needed a power forward that can shoot the three consistently.

In terms of potential, I would take Blake over Love though.

Voyeur

12/23/2013 - 10:42 PM PST

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Offensively it's true. Blake could learn a thing or two about some of Love's work in the paint. Yet it's easy to point out one or two defensive goof ups for any player...especially when playing against a guy as aggressive as Love was last night. But to suggest both Love and Blake are equally poor defenders and therefore a "wash" in that department is flat-out wrong. Game after game, Love is guilty of losing his man, sagging off his perimeter player and being soft as tissue in the post defensively. Where's coach Nick's analysis of Blake's play against the Nuggets 2 nights ago? Seems to me he played some pretty awesome defense in that game.

I guess I wasn't done talking about this guy after all. I don't doubt Nick's knowledge. I just question his motives. There's are people out there who take a side of an issue (politic, sports, whatever) and skew the numbers, or cherry pick the highlights in order to support their argument. We know this guy is no fan of Blake. We've had this discussion before. There were two other games this season in which Blake and Love faced each other. Yet Coach Nick chooses the game in which Love has one of the best games of his career? Well that's fair.

Laak

12/23/2013 - 10:43 PM PST

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Never liked this guy's analysis. Just to get his points across, he often applause tough made shots and call it good offense. Or criticize on missed good shot selection, and call it bad offense.

david

12/23/2013 - 10:44 PM PST

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Added a poll- would you rather have Blake Griffin or Kevin Love on the Clippers?

Laak

12/23/2013 - 10:48 PM PST

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Blake does have better defense. But the way He and DJ defended Peko/Love yesterday bothers me. Poke/Love were literally using the same drive right and hook move the entire game, yet Blake/DJ had no answers for it.

ClippersDA

12/23/2013 - 11:03 PM PST

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I agree love is more skilled but blake has a much higher ceiling. Blake needs to work on ball denial on those big guys like Zachary Randolph and love.

toohipcliptoslip

12/23/2013 - 11:33 PM PST

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That's a tricky question. Right now Love. He has a decent shot, he's a better FT shooter and he has post moves. Blake has athleticism and raw power. Blake makes those ugly awkward shots because he's strong enough but there's no technique. What Love was did to him was art.

Difference is that Blake is growing by leaps and bounds (pun?). Doc is letting him work on his ball handling. Evidently Doc thinks he can do it well, maybe as well as a guard. His FT shooting has been great over the last two games. 75% would be great. Any more is gravy. His jumper is a bit of a? but it's getting better. He's learning to play with his back to the basket and with his strength he can move most anybody. This is new. I wonder if he has the agility for post move footwork?? Jumping and agility are different. He gets position by power. Add finesse to that and the sky's the limit.

By the end of the season I think it will be Blake. If improves at the above he'll be a perennial MVP candidate. A fairer comparison is to LeBron but BG needs the New and Improved LeBron attitude

Voyeur

12/23/2013 - 11:48 PM PST

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I'm already disappointed with the poll results. All I have to say is head to head in 11 games, including last night's (5 games without Chris Paul):

Griffin: 25.3 pts, 54% FG, 9.8 rebs, 3.7 ast, 1 stl...7 wins.

Love: 22.1 pts, 45% FG, 13.9 rebs, 3.5 ast, 0.7 stl, 4 wins.

Hard to argue against Love's scoring and rebounding, which is dominant. But he has grown too accustomed to resting on D. Blake is only getting better and better on both ends. Love hustles on the boards. Blake hustles in other areas (steals, occasional blocks, ball saves, etc). Both can pass, Blake can handle the ball. You guys want Love, so be it.

Kingkanyon

12/23/2013 - 11:56 PM PST

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To be fair, Nobody has an answer for those guys. It didn't bother me one bit, your not going to stop good players, and on any given night they can explode, I wish they would have jumped more, but no doubt foul trouble played a huge part in this one. But I'm not into blaming the refs for anything, even though they kinda sucked. but each team can point out things in the game they dislike.

I'd go with love, I watched that kid Dominate at UCLA and he's just continuing to do so, but to be fair, he does only average 4 more points on 18 shot to blake 14 shots per game. But love is already polished only time will tell if blake can get to that point, I think he has the tools, he just has to continue to be aggressive for all four quarters, but right now watching the games, he just seems to not have the condition to do it, probably why Doc keeps him in even in Blowouts, if I were him I'd take up Swimming.

ClipperB23

12/24/2013 - 12:04 AM PST

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I like Kevin Love's game a lot but let's all be real for a minute, the dude plays 0 defense and he's not a winner-- don't give me the 'well he's never had good teammates crap, Wolves have great players and a great coach on top of that so no excuses. Oh and Love has been in the league longer than Griffin so theres that.

Here is a fact, Blake Griffin is only getting better which is scary to say and Kevin Love has reached his ceiling. Blake is also a better passer,defender, and ball handler, too bad people don't give much attention to those 3 but focus more on shooting numbers.

The problem with a lot of people in the media as well as people on this board is that Griffin spoiled us all and surpassed ALL of our expectations his rookie year which is why he gets so much criticism for not only people on here, but most of the media as well. When its all said and done, Tim Duncan and Blake Griffin IMO will be the greatest PFs to ever play the game. Oh and Griffin has shot over 80% from the FT line the past few games, like i said a while back I compare his FT's to Karl Malones, slowly working his percentage up year by year, progess is key. #InGriffinWeTrust #ClipperNation #BestPFinTheLeague

Kingkanyon

12/24/2013 - 12:27 AM PST

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I think everybody here is just trying to be un-biess, that's kind of cool to me. Has Love won basketball games, No, but Rubio can't Score, Wolfs bench is horrible, and Corey Brewer is up and down. They don't have 2 top 20 players in the league like the Clippers do, it's not a fair comparison. And often excuses are made when there's one to be had. Love is Better than Griffen, "OK", you don't need the best PF in the game to win a Championship or be a great player, when the Celtics won they didn't have any player the best at his position, so I don't know why who's the best PF is such a big deal, the top 10 PF in this league are all beast, and the difference between them is microscope.

But I think everybody here hopes one day we can say: Blake Griffen, best PF in the game, But I'd much rather say Blake Griffen: NBA Champion.

CapsNClips

12/24/2013 - 12:35 AM PST

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C'mon man, it's Griffin not "Griffen"

But yeah I agree with you about what is really important for Blake, an NBA Championship. Blake is closer to being both a Champion and the best player at his position than Love is at taking his team to the playoffs.

Voyeur

12/24/2013 - 12:35 AM PST

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Classic case of Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side!

Blake is a former Rookie of the Year. A 3 time All Star, twice a starter. 2 time All NBA Second Team. Drafted a Clipper and holds franchise records for number of rebounds and number of double-doubles in a season!

Yet we'd be willing to trade him for Love.

CapsNClips

12/24/2013 - 12:43 AM PST

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What about Love's greatest achievement. He produces lottery draft picks for his team on a yearly basis.

That's something Blake can't say for himself.

Voyeur

12/24/2013 - 12:48 AM PST

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Hmmm...that IS better than selling out venues and attracting great players. I didn't think about that.

ekker3

12/24/2013 - 01:07 AM PST

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rookie of the year: love had to go up against Derrick Rose

all star: blake 3 times, twice a starter (popularity contest for a dunker in a larger market. means nothing)

blake has 2 nba 2nd teams, love has one (both made it in 2011-2012,only love was out injured the following season)

breaking clipper records isn't saying much.

klove's rebounding, shooting, post game are all better. could you imagine chris paul with kevin love? my goooooooooodness. wow. id do that trade in a heartbeat.

gman

12/24/2013 - 01:08 AM PST

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Dang it! You are right. Let us trade for Love in this instance.

In all honesty. Like I said before, Love is more polished offensively but Griffin is the better all around player.

People seem to forget that Love has more Pro-years than Griffin, which is why he is better offensively. Yet, Griffin is the better defender and commands double teams or your best post defender.

CapsNClips

12/24/2013 - 01:09 AM PST

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Let's forget about who the actual better player is (Griffin is IMO) and just focus on if we inserted Love onto our team instead of Griffin. That would be an AWFUL fit. Chris can't play with a PF who is incapable of running a healthy pick-n-roll, not too mention his inability to run on the fast break.

It's no wonder Rubio can't reach his potential, he needs a real PF who can actually finish at the rim or catch a lob.

CapsNClips

12/24/2013 - 01:28 AM PST

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Hey, tell me again specifically how Chris and Love would flourish together. surely its not for floor spacing, since both guys love to shoot their 3's from the same spot. Also is Griffin's post game actually inferior to Love's? or did you just overhear someone on sports radio say it is?

gman

12/24/2013 - 02:34 AM PST

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Forgive me if I am wrong. On the offensive rebounds, someone mention Doc didn't want Blake up there fighting for boards and leaving the D vulnerable.

That cheap shot on Blakes' foot work, I am no expert, but he did get Love to buy on the punk fake. He came spun back and short shot it.

On D, Blake actually guarded Love. Didn't do a good job of it but at least he is there guarding the other teams best player. As oppose to Love who hides behind DJ.

Greenmonk94

12/24/2013 - 03:02 AM PST

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I'd take Kevin love any day.. but why not both.. Put Kevin love at center.. See we all win

ClipperPostman

12/24/2013 - 03:17 AM PST

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I'm sorry but anybody who would trade Blake for Love I can't respect as a real clipper fan. I'm taking notes.

toohipcliptoslip

12/24/2013 - 04:19 AM PST

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That was not a cheap shot. It's the truth. Some people can't dance. They can't move well. Does he have the co ordination to have good footwork? He hasn't shown it yet. Watch the video. Compare Love's footwork and fundamentals to Blake's. Love looks like a (poor man's) Duncan. BG shots in the post are awkward and off balance. He often shoots off the wrong foot.

As far as wanting to trade BG being a mark of being a false fan is false. We are not married to the guy. Our job is to win, not showcase a player talents. It's the LA Clippers not the LA Griffins. I would trade anybody except my Dear Departed Dog to win.

As far as BG guarding Love he had no choice. The only other option was guarding Frankenstein Pecavic and Frankie would have owned him. As it was he owned DJ.

Can Love dunk over a Kia? Case closed! LOL. Actually this Lakers fan is enjoying a debate over great players. We have garbaaage. Good thing there are two L.A. teams. BTW, I'd take Blake.

pageC4

12/24/2013 - 07:44 AM PST

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thanks for the compliment. also, I know the lakers are struggling but they can still get that 8th seed even without mamba

Silasie

12/24/2013 - 08:09 AM PST

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C4

You often seem to be on the forum around this time. If its not too personal what's the story?, are an insomniac or work nights or something?

pageC4

12/24/2013 - 08:33 AM PST

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lol, no not personal at all.I usually start work at 8:30 in the morning, but I get up at 6:00 am to get sometime for. coffee and read the news. lately though I will admit to getting up at odd hours due to a back problem. I can't sleep to well these days so ill usually be on topbuzz when I can't sleep. lol, I can imagine that my odd hours probably had you thinking I was working at the morgue or something

Silasie

12/24/2013 - 08:56 AM PST

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"working at the morgue or something" lol. Now that is a bad job.

Its really funny but unconciously I realise that the avatar of the forum users becomes the image I have of that person in my head. So i hadn't really made much presumptions about why you were up at such odd hours but my image of you is a pseudo Joseph Gordon-Levitt LOL.

Heediot

12/24/2013 - 09:22 AM PST

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There is not a big gap between the two, if Love was a tonne better I would give him my vote. With things as they are I 'll choose to keep Blake and his potential.

Voyeur

12/24/2013 - 09:24 AM PST

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I'm not interested in excuses, ekker3. My point is none of those things happen unless Blake is one of the best players in the NBA today. Who wouldn't want a guy who's already achieved those things. My point about the Clippers record is he started his professional career a Clipper. He's broken some records as a Clipper. I kinda want him to stay and retire a Clipper. Maybe you don't.

FightOnRon

12/24/2013 - 09:38 AM PST

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I am a Clipper fan,Blake, period.

Love is done progressing,Blake is still progressing. I will take Blake's athleticism over Love shooting from the 3 point line (and in another year Blake will be doing that).

What I find funny is every year there is a complaint(s) from "fans" about an aspect of Blake's game that he doesn't have the Love does,then the next season Blake seems to have worked on that skill. This year's complaint seems to be Love can shoot 3 pointers. I think this year Blake has made more 3 pointers then his entire career to this point added together.

cleepers

12/24/2013 - 09:43 AM PST

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I like watching basketball beyond March, so I'll say Griffin.

CP3Heliflopter

12/24/2013 - 10:56 AM PST

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I think Love is a bit better but I would never trade Blake for Love.

I like Blake. I don't like Love.

Love would make us better offensively while making us worse defensively. Fairly lateral move.

Amnesty_David_Stern

12/24/2013 - 12:00 PM PST

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votes: 7

I still pick Griffin, no matter how "great" Kevin Love is. While Love is a great 3PT shooter for a big man ( 38% is pretty good considering ), a prolific rebounder, he's a volume scorer. He's taking 19 shots a game this year, and shooting just under 46% from the field. Griffin is taking 15 shots a game, shooting just under 52% from the field.

Sorry, but big men are supposed to be in the paint and not shooting 7 3PTERS a game. I don't care how many rebounds he gets, nobody on that team rebounds at all! Put Love on an actual team with competent players and his numbers will start to dwindle. He's a fantastic player, but I feel he's on such a bad team that his numbers are a bit inflated. Love doesn't steal, nor does he block. Blake passes better, steals the ball and works in the paint on offense to spread the floor.

I'd love to have both guys, but Kevin Love would be a bad fit on this team. Love would be tremendous for other teams, like he is on Minnesota but it wouldn't work so well here. Certain players work well on certain teams because of the guys around them, and the coaching system on how they have their game plan. Some guys don't need any sort of special system or teammates to be amazing, like Lebron, Kobe, CP3 and so forth.

Clipswhit

12/24/2013 - 12:15 PM PST

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Love is good, his 3 ball is pretty great, but if he was better than griffin, he wouldn't need the refs to baby him in match ups against us.

Silasie

12/24/2013 - 12:16 PM PST

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^

By that logic KD isn't very good seeing as the refs have back every game.

Clipswhit

12/24/2013 - 12:18 PM PST

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I'd love to see his stats without ref ball helping him out too

Silasie

12/24/2013 - 12:19 PM PST

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I don't get why this type of stuff happens in the NBA?

gman

12/24/2013 - 01:06 PM PST

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Again, not an expert but i heard people on Clippers Live say he does (bias, i guess so).

As far as trading BG for Love.

Love has arguably had a better coach than BG his entire career. He has reached his ceiling. Yet Griffin has reached the playoffs more and in less years. Blake is improving as stated by many here. One thing we forget is loyalty. Dude could have bolted if he wanted to. Plus we would not be here without him. Drafting BG completely changed this organization.

As far as being the best of anything you have to do it all.

LBJ, CP, heck even Kobe in his heyday guarded the other teams best. Griffin has given us flashes of greatness on D. I recall him slowing down James earlier in the year.

Love maybe better offensively but that is it.

TheDude

12/24/2013 - 01:21 PM PST

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KLove might be able to have more longevity because of the way he plays (or more so, the way Blake plays) but for the next 6-8years it's Blake without question.

So I'll be open to a trade somewhere around 2022.

Greenmonk94

12/24/2013 - 01:27 PM PST

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im a clipper fan. but not one that puts up this illusion that blake is the greatest PF..we are winning a lot because of chris paul... before paul we did not make the playoffs.. like the timberwolves are now.. with chris paul blake looks like a beast.. imagine kevin love next to chris paul.. man hitting threes.. rebounding.. post moves.. no way would i say blake is not good.. he is really good.. a freak athletic that is only getting better.. but problem is.. we don't talk on speculation.. and not right kevin love is better

toohipcliptoslip

12/24/2013 - 01:38 PM PST

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Blake did a great job against LBJ. As far as "Loyalty" this is a business not a family. If he had a chance to get a ring somewhere else and not here, he's gone. One BIG reason he's here is because of the $$$. If he were in OKC or Memphis or arguably even New York would he get so many endorsements? Why do we have "Cliff Paul"? That's a big reason CP is here. You wouldn't have Chris "Sh*it Howdy" Paul from Houston doing comm'ls. We would trade him in a heat beat if someone a quantum better came along.

Agent0

12/24/2013 - 01:46 PM PST

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Love is certainly a better offensive player just from the nature of being able to score effectively from more spots on the floor.

Defense I would say Blake certainly has greater potential, and is a bit better, but Love has been looking better on defense, as well as the Wolves as a team, so he's not the terrible defender of old anymore. Objectively I would take Love, he's a better player, but because of loyalty I would take Griffin.

If the question was just "who is a better player", it's Love.

People might get caught up on who has made the playoffs, etc, but we have to be realistic. Love isn't the reason the Wolves haven't made the playoffs. Love on the Clippers in place of Blake would also be enjoying the chance to play in the post-season, and Blake on the Wolves would be in the lottery too, except maybe last season because Blake has been more durable and he could have been healthy and helped them make the playoffs.

cleepers

12/24/2013 - 01:57 PM PST

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The only year Blake didn't make the playoffs, he was a rookie and our next best 3 guys missed more than 100 games combined... EJ, Kaman and Baron. It has even been argued that CP3 actually hurt Blake's game (or at least his numbers) because he is a bona fide "closer" so the ball wasn't in Blake's hands in crunch time anymore.

Hitting 3's? That's why we got Redick.

Rebounding? We have DJ for that (not that Blake is a slacker in that department)

As has been said earlier in this thread, Blake scores at a MUCH higher FG% and actually guards his man... I like a little power from a power forward, not a garbage man who hangs around the rim for putback bunnies to boost his stats or camps out behind the arc because he's not durable enough to handle contact.

Personally, I believe that even with CP3 replaced by an average PG, Blake could still lead this team to a low playoff seed, but fortunately we don't have to find that out. Love on the other hand, has proven unable to do that for his team in 5 attempts... and number 6 isn't looking too good right now.

Agent0

12/24/2013 - 02:01 PM PST

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Big men are supposed to do whatever benefits the team the most. It's not a negative that he is able to score in different spots, and it isn't like he can't score in the paint. Really the 3PT shots he's taking are shots that Blake or other big's without 3PT range would take as long mid-range jumpers.

Players in general are supposed to do what is best for the team, I don't know why people like to constrict player roles like a position "must" do this or that. Basketball has never been like that. Why would Love being in the paint more benefit a team that has a guy like Pekovic in the paint? That would be bad basketball.

You want to maximize spacing and try to maximize all your players. Love is equally effective playing inside or outside (actually probably more shooting 3's). Pek is more effective inside. Why would you force Pek outside and make Love play inside more so that he can "play more like a big man". That's just making your team worse on offense and not maximizing your players and allowing them to compliment each other.

The Wolves are 10th in the league in DRB% and better than the Clippers, so it's hard to say anything about Love's rebounding not being effective. Now, I agree, he gets a lot of uncontested rebounds, so I don't think his defensive rebounding is significantly more impactful than Blake for example. Pekovic though boxes out very well despite not grabbing a ton of defensive rebounds, and someone has to clean up those loose rebounds.

Offensive rebounds is a different story, Pek is even better than Love on that side of things.

Love on a good team might score less, 22-23 pts instead of 25-26, but nothing suggests his rebounding should be significantly different or that he wouldn't be used as much as a passer.

Also the Wolves aren't really a "bad" team. They are 13-15, yes, but they are top 10 in Ortg and Drtg, have a +2.9 differential, and based on their play, their expected win/loss is 17-11. This means that they have had issues with closing games and a bit of bad luck.

Usually over a season, that will balance out, so barring any significant injury, they most likely should be a >.500 team.

gman

12/24/2013 - 02:02 PM PST

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Can we just agree to disagree.

Kevin Love is the better player now as he is the main guy on their team.

Blake will be the better all around player when it is all said and done and is showing flashes now as he is starting to take over.

Minnesota is stuck with Love as we are with Blake, not that it is bad.

What is important is what we have and that we are poised for the playoffs and beyond. We should be grateful that we have championship aspirations because i seem to recall not long ago we were the laughing stock of the NBA!